


The Fair Value of Knowledge

by AERS_Radio



Category: Free!, xxxHoLic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Crossover, Enemies to Friends, Friendship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Ghosts, Paranormal, Rest House, Some cameos, Watanuki-Doumeki: business as usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-01-29 19:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12637356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AERS_Radio/pseuds/AERS_Radio
Summary: “There's a question that's been bugging me for years.”During a motor race in Australia, and not for the first time this year, tacticians Ryuugazaki Rei and Watanuki Kimihiro exchange some strong words in the heat of the moment. The loser apologises to the victor, which will lead to a thawing of this cold relationship in an unlikely location...This story takes place within theFuture Free! Motor Racing AU, but it can be read independently of that series.





	1. Deal Down Under

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back for a short write, putting out some ideas I had for the relationship dynamics of what would have been Part 4 of the [_Future Free! Motor Racing AU_](https://archiveofourown.org/series/337975), had I decided to continue fully developed fics beyond Part 2. However, the main theme of this fic is character development for Rei and Watanuki beyond the racing aspects, hence I have decided not to include it in the series.  
>  Enjoy!
> 
> Rated T (13+) for tone, alcohol and smoking references.

**Sunday 5 th November 2017**

The corks popped out of the bottles, the drivers took aim and began spraying each other with the bubbly, sticky wine. The principal of the winning team, however, leapt forward to try to shower his race engineer in the crowd below. Realising he was the target, Rei took a step back and attempted to duck behind his neighbour, but then he remembered: his boss had told him not to use Gou as a shield. Deciding he had nowhere to go, Rei stood back up straight and let some drops reach him. When he looked back up to the rostrum, Sosuke gave him a stern look and raised a finger, as if to say “I _warne_ _d_ you...”, before letting out a chuckle and getting distracted by Momo slushing some Champagne onto him. It was the signal for him to rejoin his trio of drivers on the top step of the podium.

Before huddling with Ai, Momo and Sosuke, three men who had stopped being rivals to him only a year earlier, Nagisa shook his shoulder blade-length alcohol-drenched hair, donned his cap and grabbed his hard-earned trophy. He had missed out on a podium there in 2016, losing a heated battle for third with Rin, but he had more than made up for it in 2017. He had driven nearly half of the 1000 km race on his favourite track, Mount Panorama, Australia, and he had dominated. His team, a mix of talent from the former Iwatobi and Samezuka squads, was more ambitious, and gave him more free rein to push. In the end, he was unsurprised by his victory; it could almost have been expected, given the effort put in. But that's not to say he wasn't enjoying his win! From the moment he caught sight of the chequered flag all the way to the podium, that huge, confident, contagious grin hadn't left Nagisa's face, and wasn't about to leave.

Rei had a similar feeling about the result. It was logical: his team had a good car, a good driver line-up, a good technical crew. If one puts those elements together, the results _should_ be good. He was also feeling less nervous when watching Nagisa drive. Although a slide on the mountain section of the track had freaked him out, he was quick to laugh about it after he realised the car had missed the concrete walls. Now, while Nagisa left the podium with his co-drivers for the press conference, and the Champagne he had received from Sosuke dried out, Rei forgot that one tense moment, as it was drowned by the joy and satisfaction of seeing his team fulfil its potential.

However, sitting on a stool in his pit wall cabin, a rival tactician looked on glumly. Kimihiro Watanuki had been brought into the sport by Sakura Kinomoto, a friend of his, at the start of the season, to redress a team that had seen little success since the change of regulations in 2014. In that role, he had signed an alliance that saw Haruka Tenou, a reputable sprint racer, join the endurance championship, and secured race-winning machinery, to raise the squad's ambitions. He had high expectations, and was frustrated by repeatedly stumbling on Rei's team.

“I didn't foresee this”, he thought. “Surely I should have detected that these guys had something big in them... How was I blind to this?”

 

Rewinding to eight months prior, Watanuki recalled turning up at his first test session in charge of the outfit. He was tense, as one is on the first day on a different job, and the race engineer in the neighbouring garage was quick to pick up on it.

“You look nervous”, Rei rather clumsily remarked. “It's only testing”, he smirked, once Watanuki had turned to face him. Having been somewhat pale until that point, the dark-haired man's cheeks started to become coloured with mild anger.

“I am aware of that”, Watanuki grumbled back.

“Ok, just checking you're feeling alright”, Rei responded defensively, raising his hands to appease his counterpart. “I'm Ryuugazaki Rei, ESRT, I'll be over there if you need me”, he said before walking briskly over to his station on pit wall.

“Well, great”, Watanuki complained in his mind. “I've only just got here and already someone's in my face... I've got one Doumeki to put up with as it is, thank you very much!”

Speak of the devil, Doumeki approached.

“Yo, who's first in the car?”, he asked.

“You're in at 10, remember?”, Watanuki snapped back loudly.

“Stop shouting!”, the driver replied. “And I do remember when I'm due in, but I asked who's first.”

“Tenou, obviously!”

“Right. I'll grab one of those mochis you made then.”

“Fine!”, Watanuki finished, not bothered to question the reasoning that linked Tenou taking the wheel to him having a snack. He didn't need to, he knew there wasn't one, it was just classic Doumeki, always eating.

Rei and Nagisa, meanwhile, had heard the commotion and concluded that Watanuki was indeed in a bad mood. Nagisa, optimistically, thought that it would pass, but it didn't. At least, not in Rei's presence. For whatever reason, Watanuki had a big reaction to Rei, one that made it difficult to merely look at him, similar to what he had with Doumeki in the past.

 

It was simple: Watanuki seemed to just dislike Rei, with an intensity that had blinded him to his qualities, as well as those of his drivers, similar to what he had with Doumeki in the past. He had been up against far stronger than he had been willing to admit, and realised it too late. He stood hesitantly while Rei's team assembled in front of the garage for a team photo.

Rei didn't pay any attention to Watanuki, as he was making the most of this glorious moment with Nagisa, Sosuke, Ai, Momo, Gou and Jeremy, the technical director with whom he shared a passion for aerodynamics. Cheers went up when the photos were taken, and everyone was looking forward to a big party once their victory would be confirmed by the scrutineers who were still examining the car. As the group started to disperse, Watanuki gathered some courage, thought “to hell with it!” and marched slowly up to Rei.

“Ryuugazaki”, he called.

Rei paused, and the sight of Watanuki's heterochromatic eyes staring at him over the top of the thin-framed glasses wiped the smile off his face. He turned to face him, not knowing what to expect. Watanuki's eyes then shut, and a sigh was heard.

“I owe you an apology”, Watanuki admitted. “What I said... it was in the heat of the moment.” Rei also breathed a sigh of relief and smiled gently.

“It's alright, we've all been there. You're still young, right?”

Watanuki almost flared at that condescending remark, but managed to restrain himself from snapping back at Rei again. He pouted lightly and stated, “I'm much older than I look... though still younger than Doumeki.”

Nagisa leapt in on the lighter mood to press a question.

“Hey, you know things about the paranormal, right, Wata-chan?”

“Wata-ch...!!!”, Kimihiro nearly exploded. Rei winced discreetly and prepared to defuse the situation.

“Uhhh, must be the Champagne talking”, he mumbled.

“Ghosts, spirits, etc, you're really knowledgeable about that stuff, aren't you?”, Nagisa continued unabated, grinning eagerly. Watanuki adjusted his glasses to regain his composure before answering.

“Well, I have some experience of those”, he massively understated.

“Can I ask you to visit somewhere with me then?”, Nagisa enquired. “There's a question that's been bugging me for years, Wata-chan...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A picture of Nagisa, Ai and Momo in their race suits, celebrating the win, is [up here!](http://aers-radio.tumblr.com/post/167152141606/the-fair-value-of-knowledge-chapter-1-is-up)
> 
> I have no release date for the next chapter, in which we'll reach the location Nagisa is talking about, but in the best-case scenario, the fic will be completed this year. Announcements will be made on the [blog](https://aers-radio.tumblr.com).


	2. Home by the Sea

**Tuesday 14 th November 2017**

 The Sukishima Rest House hadn't changed one bit. The dark, round building didn't stand out much against its woody surroundings, but the moonlit sky above made its contours very clear when the four men got closer. Rei was disappointed that the place was left in state.

“Such a good location”, he bemoaned. “Why don't they renovate this place, or demolish this old thing and rebuild?”

“Maybe they can't demolish it, Rei-chan”, Nagisa responded eerily, “because of the ghosts... But we can ask them, right, Wata-chan?” Rei flinched. He wasn't afraid of ghosts, he knew they didn't exist. However, he began to dread the nonsense up ahead, and questioned why he had come along.

“Consider yourself fortunate that you didn't have to talk _someone else_ into this”, Watanuki remarked, referring to Doumeki.

“Oi, someone's got to have your back”, Doumeki calmly said back.

“Plus, it’s important that four of us came along, Rei-chan, to draw the spirits out the same way we did last time”, Nagisa continued, referring to the night he and his team-mates had spent there after being stranded in the storm. Rei shivered. Again, it was how much Nagisa believed in this irrational notion of spirits that scared him, more than the idea of a ghostly encounter itself.

“Yeah, and what exactly did we do to draw the spirits out?”, he asked sceptically.

“I don’t know”, Nagisa shrugged, before striking a more determined tone and expression. “That’s what we’ve got to find out, and we’re going to be scientific about it by re-doing the experiment!”

“Alright, let’s do this”, Rei decided, expecting it to be short.

“That’s more like it, Rei-chan!”, Nagisa smiled, thinking that using the term ‘scientific’ had genuinely won Rei over. “Now, the first thing I have to do is stand here and scream.” The other three looked on puzzled as he walked towards the door and let out a cry.

“Aaaand what was that for, Nagisa-kun?”, Rei asked.

“Well, when we were here during the storm, the first thing Haru-chan did was try to scare me”, Nagisa explained. “So maybe my scream alerted the spirits to our presence. Now, we can go in while I recall what happened next...”

“Wait, we’re not just going to the place you saw them and doing whatever we were doing then?”, Rei asked.

“We have to be precise, Rei-chan!”, Nagisa stated. “Maybe it was a _chain_ of events that set them off, so we have to go through that chain.”

Rei was getting desperate. Who could possibly talk Nagisa out of this madness? He thought fast - “wait, Watanuki-san’s the expert here!”, he realised. “Why isn’t he running this experiment?”

“Because we don’t know what we’re dealing with”, Watanuki replied. “Hazuki didn’t give us a very clear description.”

“They could be dangerous”, Doumeki warned. Rei gulped. Not because of the potential danger, but because labelling those two men “experts” had just backfired.

“Let’s get inside then!”, Nagisa said enthusiastically, marching forth and opening the door.

 Each of the four were laden with a couple of large bags, which they left just inside the entrance, taking only what they needed to set up their space, mainly torches and lanterns. They'd come back for the rest later. The main lobby was even quieter than the first time Nagisa and Rei had been there, because it was a dry evening, and the sound of rain on the windows and roof couldn’t be heard.

“Ah!”, Nagisa exclaimed strongly, startling the other three. “That’s where the flash light was! Now on to the kitchen!” Rei had a drop of sweat break out after being surprised by Nagisa’s outburst, but worse was to come, as he had forgotten quite a bit about the evening on Sukishima.

“Now Rei-chan has to open the fridge!”, Nagisa stated. “Haha, he was so freaked out the first time...”

“Well I’m not scared this time, I know nothing’s in there!”, Rei said confidently, walking quickly up to the “refriger- _rei_ -tor” as Nagisa had called it, and opening it up with one swift, brutal pull. He turned around triumphantly, only to see Doumeki flexing the bow he’d brought along. _That_ frightened Rei, and he dived for cover behind a workspace. Watanuki smirked with some satisfaction, and Nagisa giggled at the sight, while Doumeki, most seriously, declared the room “safe”.

“What the hell was that?!”, Rei shouted, picking himself up from the floor.

“A precaution”, Doumeki replied, unhelpfully.

“What, preparing to shoot me in the back is a precaution?”, Rei asked angrily.

“In case a dangerous entity came out of the fridge”, Doumeki expanded. “Physical arrows are of course useless on spirits, but shooting ethereal arrows is a way to exorcise them. You wouldn’t have felt a thing.” Rei didn’t believe a word about the ethereal arrows, but it was a fact that Doumeki hadn’t loaded his bow, so he effectively hadn’t threatened him. He pouted with relief, then asked Nagisa what was next.

“We made dinner, didn’t we!”, he beamed. This time, the four had come prepared, so they wouldn’t have to rely on the dwindling and increasingly stale stock of food on-site. They placed lanterns on tables on the first floor before picking up the rest of their kit and settling in for the night.

 

Several things that the Iwatobi team had used several years prior had been left tidily near the windows. No-one paid much attention to them while the little gas stove was cooking the rice.

“Is this all there is?”, Doumeki asked.

“Oh, you and your huge stomach!”, Watanuki moaned while stirring.

“This is all for now”, Nagisa replied, more helpfully. “Once we've passed the point where I saw that ghost, we'll stuff our faces with sweets!”

“Had we known, we could have used the kitchen downstairs”, Doumeki remarked.

“You mean _I_ would have used the kitchen downstairs”, Watanuki snapped back.

“Why not. Your food's good.”

“Oh, I would have helped, Wata-chan!”, Nagisa cheered. “But we didn’t find how to turn the power on last time, so...”

“Around when did you see your ghost, Nagisa-kun?”, asked Rei, getting impatient.

“Hmm”, Nagisa thought, “it was after dinner… and, ooh!” In a flash, Nagisa unzipped his cardigan, stood up, threw it to the floor and was visibly intent on stripping down further. How far he'd go made his guests uneasy, and Rei noticed.

“Nagisa-kun, what are you…?”

“We were topless!”, Nagisa shouted. “We had all swum here and we were topless! Everyone, shirts off!” At this point, Watanuki and Doumeki were shocked.

“I think we can forgo this detail, Nagisa-kun!”, Rei scolded in a panic.

“I think so too”, Watanuki stepped in, fully agreeing with Rei for a change.

“But we have to reproduce as many aspects of the evening as possible!”, Nagisa insisted, tossing his T-shirt aside to reveal his still thin frame, although he had put on a bit more muscle for this year. He pushed his hair behind his shoulders, then added, “besides, you look fantastic topless, Rei-chan!”

“It’s too cold!”, Rei complained. Sure enough, he noticed some goosebumps appear on Nagisa's arms in the fresh, autumn evening air. They spread to Rei, and he shivered briefly. Meanwhile, Watanuki had thought up an excuse to get out of undressing.

“Well, attire could matter if you were summoning a spirit as part of a ritual”, he said, “but that wasn’t your case.” Doumeki nodded.

“There”, Rei sighed, “now put your clothes back on before you catch a cold, please.”

“Oh well, I tried”, thought Nagisa, while fetching his T-shirt. Then, as he bent down to pick it up, he saw something under the Rest House staff aprons. He forgot about his top and went to grab it. Seeing Nagisa holding a cardboard box up with a huge, ominous grin, Rei's expression went blank.

“Oh no”, he muttered. Silence fell on the trio, until Doumeki broke it.

“Uhm... and what is that exactly?”

 

After a bowl of rice each, it was time to roll the dare cube. It had four names on it, one for each man present, as Nagisa assigned Makoto's side to Watanuki, and Haruka's to Doumeki. He tossed the cube, and it landed on himself.

“Right, I'm going to do an impression for you!”, he cheered. “Can you guess what this is?”

He stood up straight, stiffened his stature, arms glued to his sides and hands twisted outward. He wobbled for a moment, looking around to see if anyone was about to make a guess. Rei gave a short nod to signal that he knew what it was, and waited to see if one of the other two would work it out. Watanuki was gesturing with frustration, as if the word was on the edge of his tongue.

“Uhm, a penguin?”, Doumeki asked calmly.

“Damn it, I was close!”, Watanuki seethed.

“Yep, but what kind?”, Nagisa winked. The two older men from Tokyo fell silent.

“They'll never get that, Nagisa-kun”, Rei anticipated.

“Yeah, apart from the emperor penguin, I don't know any species”, Doumeki admitted.

“It's an Iwatobi penguin, like our home town!”, Nagisa answered, before picking the dare cube up again.

This time, it landed on Makoto, so it was Watanuki's turn.

“Tell us about a romantic encounter you had, Wata-chan!”

Just as everyone was thinking that this part of the evening might be quite fun, Nagisa's forwardness in asking Watanuki for a love story caught them off guard. Rei asked Nagisa to consider something less personal, but the reply was that Haru had told a love story during their first visit to the Rest House.

“Yes, and I had embarrass myself – which I won't do tonight!”, Rei protested.

“We'll find something else for you, Rei-chan”, Nagisa reassured, sitting down and eagerly expecting Watanuki's story, “but a love story is always nice, right?”

“Well, it is to begin with, I guess”, Watanuki began, with a distant look on his face. “In high school, I really, really liked this girl. Whenever I saw her, or heard her voice, I felt transported away from my worries. But every time I saw her, something untoward would happen. It turns out she was cursed somehow to bring back luck to those around her. I helped her in every way I could, but when I took over the shop, I had to let her go and live her life.” Doumeki knew the story and was rather unfazed, but Nagisa and Rei were listening carefully.

“I also know of another who liked me”, Watanuki continued. “She couldn't hide it, even if I was too stupid to see it. But she had to be kept away from me, lest her focus and powers would decline... And how many times have I seen what damage love can do when dealing with customers? Jealousy, obsession, blindness... These are the hardest customers to work with, because they do not realise how much they are asking for. In their state, they think it's a small thing, a tweak to a person's feelings. But the price is high, the consequences are long-term. I, too, would have claimed to be able to give anything to be loved back by my crush in high school, but I would have led myself on a different path, one in which other essential needs of mine would not have been satisfied.”

“You seem to understand a lot about love, Watanuki-san”, said Rei, admiringly. To him, of course, the concept was still very much alien. He knew there was a component of risk to it, and he wasn't unhappy to hear someone echo his mistrust in love.

“Hmm, that's put a downer on things”, Nagisa moaned. “Next roll!”

The third roll of the cube designated Haruka, in other words Shizuka, for a task. Nagisa asked him to sing a song. “This'll lighten the mood”, he hoped.

“I doubt it”, Watanuki sneered, “Doumeki can't sing.”

Nonetheless, Doumeki began. The other three listened, Watanuki more intently as the seconds passed. He closed his eyes and could hear a shamisen playing in the background. It was the song that his own instrument had taught him. Doumeki's grandfather had taught him the words in a dream, so he wasn't surprised that the grandson also knew the song.

“ _Who can understand the mysteries of love?_ ”, went the poem.

 A long silence followed Doumeki's last note. Nagisa looked around, and said that the ghost should have appeared by then if things had followed the same pattern.

“The place isn't haunted”, Watanuki informed the group. He stood up, donned an extra kimono as the temperature continued to drop in the night, and headed for the windows. “I can sense some wandering spirits outside, lost fishermen... But they belong to the sea. No shipwrecked man has chosen to dwell here.” He picked up a box he had brought with him, and announced that he was going to smoke his pipe on the roof. Doumeki quietly and spontaneously started to tidy up the dinner table. Rei was simply relieved that the experiment was over. Nagisa was satisfied with the answer, even if he had hoped for more thrills. Still, there was more food and drink to come. Everyone just needed a moment to collect their thoughts, then, hopefully, there would be some fun.

“Rei-chan, I'm cold, can you hold me for a moment?”, requested Nagisa.

“Erm, well”, Rei spluttered, before realising that Nagisa feeling cold was no surprise. “Ah, you still haven't put your clothes back on all this time!” He got up quickly and fetched Nagisa's T-shirt, cardigan and coat, and, after his friend had put them on, he accepted to hug him, rubbing his arms and back to give him more warmth.

“That's better, thank you, Rei-chan”, Nagisa said after a while.

“You should have stayed dressed. You're driving this weekend!”, Rei remarked. Nagisa looked Rei in the eyes, smiled softly, nodded and said sorry.

“What have we got to drink, Hazuki-kun?”, Doumeki asked, having got cups out of a small box.

“Aha!”, Nagisa chirped, back to his usual good mood. “I think you'll find we have quite the selection!”

“I'll leave you two to discuss alcohol”, Rei chuckled, picking up his coat. “I'm going to get some air on the roof too.”


	3. Business under the Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Rei! Make a wish, mate!  
> But as always with Watanuki, be careful what you wish for...

Rei sometimes varied his walk from his apartment to the subway he took to go to campus, especially on nice days. In a couple of years, he had become familiar with several routes, but something caught his eye one morning: a traditional Japanese house in amongst the modern tall buildings, with moon crescents ornamenting the roof and the top of the gate pillars.

“This is beautiful”, Rei thought, “but I never remember seeing this here...” He turned to take a closer look, instinctively walked into the garden, and it wasn’t until he was half-way between the street and the door that he realised he shouldn’t be there. Still, he continued.

“This is wrong”, he mumbled, brow sweating, legs unstoppable. He managed to slow down as he climbed the steps, then he hesitantly slid the door open, tiptoeing in.

“Um...?”, he moaned, thinking up some excuse to give if he was caught. Then, he saw a man dressed in a white kimono with red motifs. Although the man was smiling, arms open about to greet him, Rei recognised him and froze with fear.

All this time, Watanuki had his eyes closed and was oblivious to who was before him. He approached his guest and began his well-rehearsed speech with a jolly tone.

“ _Irasshaimase_! This is a shop which grants wishes. If you are here, it is because **OH NO,** _ **YOU**_ **?!** ” Watanuki had caught a glimpse of the man before him, and fell to the floor in frustration. “You have got to be joking!”, he vented, “I had predicted that someone related to a butterfly would come here and I was expecting better!”

Rei, meanwhile, had also dropped to the floor, kneeling with contrition. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know this was your place! I didn’t mean to trespass, I just... I don’t know why I’m here!”

Watanuki got back up and dusted off his kimono. With his back to Rei, he continued in a grave voice. He cringed at the realisation that he was actually supposed to serve this guy.

“I _do_ know why you’re here”, he growled. “Your visit was inevitable. You have a wish and I can grant it. For a price.”

“I... I don’t think so...”, Rei stuttered back. “It must be a mistake, I don’t think I need your help...”

He clambered back to his feet and ran outside, screaming another apology for entering without permission. Watanuki stayed behind with a glum look on his face. Maru and Moro came out of a room and asked why he wasn’t trying to keep Rei in the shop.

“He’s not ready”, he sighed. “Not ready to deal with me. Not ready to admit his wish. But this encounter has a purpose...”

 

Watanuki sighed while letting out a puff of smoke mixed with visible steam from his breath into the night sky, recalling that Summer’s day at the shop. Yes, that encounter had served a purpose: to let Watanuki and Rei know that they would do business soon.

“Tonight’s the night, surely”, Watanuki mumbled. “After all, Hazuki-san...”

His thoughts were stopped by the sound of the roof door opening. Out came Rei, complete with duffle coat, wooly hat and gloves, who immediately surveyed the starry ceiling.

“It’s like that evening all those years ago”, he thought, “although that was Summer, so the constellations are different...”

“Where’s the Penguin?”, Nagisa had asked.

“There’s no such constellation!”, Rei had replied. Where did his friend get these ideas?

“He has more imagination than you, I guess”, Watanuki spoke.

“What? Who?”, Rei said confusedly.

“Hazuki-san. Looking for penguins in the sky.”

Rei was baffled. Had he spoken out loud instead of thinking quietly?

“Don’t worry, you’re not talking to yourself”, Watanuki continued. “I just had a nose inside your thoughts.” As much as Rei wanted to believe that it wasn’t possible, he had to consider that it was true, as Watanuki had repeated his thoughts so impeccably.

“D-don’t you think that’s a bit intrusive, reading my mind?!”, Rei barked.

“Entering my property wasn’t intrusive, perhaps?”, Watanuki winked.

“It... it’s not the same as entering someone’s head!”, Rei defended himself.

“You can deduce an awful lot about someone’s mindset just by looking at his home, you know”, Watanuki responded.

“It’s still not the same! And I said I was sorry for trespassing, and...”

By now, Watanuki was laughing. “Relax, I’m winding you up. I won’t do it again.”

 

After a pause to allow Watanuki to take another puff of his traditional Japanese pipe, he remarked: “but he’s been bugging you for years, hasn’t he?”

“Who?”, Rei asked again, daftly.

“Hazuki-san. You don’t understand him, do you?”

After another pause, Rei admitted: “no.” He sighed and went on. “He’s not logical. I don’t hate him for it, far from it, but it can be... so distracting. His incoherences, I mean.”

“What kind of incoherence?”, Watanuki asked softly. Rei thought for a moment, and quickly found his example.

“Recently, he’s decided to look... somewhat feminine, with the long hair, and the way he dresses sometimes, outside his work and the racing. I’ve seen pictures on his internet profiles, at clubs he goes to... He’s always been outgoing, but now I'd say he's eccentric.”

“How is that incoherent?”

“He said he always used to hate being dressed up by his sisters when he was younger, and now he’s ok with looking like that?”

“The difference is that it’s his choice now. He chooses what he wants to wear, how he wants to look.”

“But in that case, _why_ does he choose to look that way?”

“Does it bother you?”

“Well, er... No, he actually does look quite good”, Rei bashfully remarked. “I mean, it suits him. But it's confusing me, because he said he didn't enjoy it before...”

Watanuki paused before asking: “so why does it matter that you understand it?”

“Well, it’s obvious!”, Rei gulped defensively, before beginning a more panicked reply. “He’s my friend and I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, and the way he looks, the way he acts... He's careless, I know he’s been flirting, and I just don’t want him to get hurt or in trouble, but I can’t help if I don’t understand why he does this and where he’s going with it!” Rei sighed and sat on the ledge of the rooftop. He’d had a frustrating evening with Nagisa thus far, and being able to voice some concern lightened his spirit for a moment.

 

“You know, I could tell you”, Watanuki eventually said, with a serious look on his face. Rei’s head tilted up to stare at the man. The high contrast of his pale skin and dark hair, as well as the patterns on his kimono, gave Watanuki an aura of importance and mystery in the moonlight. “It’s clear that Hazuki-san is changing, growing, experimenting; he’s finding out who he is and what he wants to be – and it’s well within my powers to tell you all that.”

Rei was simultaneously spooked, sceptical and tempted. It shouldn’t be possible to predict someone’s evolution, Nagisa’s even less so, and although he didn’t believe in it, he had been given a demonstration of Watanuki’s psychic powers, so why not use them?

“To understand Hazuki-san: that is your wish, is that right?”

Watanuki’s voice had Rei mesmerised, commanding him to answer, so it slipped right out: “yes.” The witch boy moved closer to his possible customer to give him words of warning.

“Someone’s deepest nature and most intimate feelings... This is powerful and important information you ask. What you will discover will be for you alone, and it will profoundly change your relationship with him.” Rei’s eyes widened, pupils vibrating.

“Change?! How? What way? What do you know?”, Rei stammered. Watanuki brought a finger close to Rei's mouth to calm him.

“Shhh, I have not searched Hazuki-san yet”, he pointed out. “The reason your relationship will change is because that is the price. You will have access to things that Hazuki-san isn’t aware of about himself yet, and the cost of this knowledge is that you will be separated from him until he catches up.”

“ _Separated_?!”, Rei gasped, fear creeping in.

“Yes”, Watanuki confirmed. “You will be completely separated from him. Whenever you want to contact him, something will come up. Wherever you may pass in the street, you will be distracted so you don't see each other. However you try to see him again, something will get in your way. You will miss each other in every sense of the term. All until there is no risk that your foreknowledge can influence him. It could take months, years... a lifetime. I cannot offer an alternative: this is the right, fair price for what you ask.”

The thought of possibly not seeing Nagisa again brought Rei to his senses. Tearing up, he stood and sprinted a few metres away, breaking the almost hypnotical bond that had formed between himself and Watanuki. Shivering from the emotion, he caught his breath.

 

“You’re a very reasonable person, Ryuugazaki-san”, Watanuki eventually said, interrupting the sound of Rei panting. “Many in your place would have insisted they were prepared to pay the price, but not you. You knew that you weren't. However, the price was only in proportion with your wish.” Rei was still in shock and becoming ashamed of what he had nearly done.

“Yes. It would have been... like raiding his soul”, he whispered. “How do I face him now?” Watanuki got closer to him again to reassure him.

“It is difficult to go back on words”, he said, “but as it is just the two of us, I can rid you of the memory of your request. That’s something you _can_ afford.”

“I guess I should...”, Rei mumbled. He turned to face Watanuki again, and begged: “but still, how do I help him if I don’t understand him?”

“You will not help him by not being yourself”, Watanuki replied, smiling comfortingly. “You two are not like-minded, and yet you stick together, so he appreciates you for who you are, even if he doesn’t always understand you either. As for Hazuki-san’s future, be assured he will find his way. Just trust him, let him express himself, and you will find out what you need to know in due course.”

Upon hearing this, a smile returned to Rei’s face, with mischievous scepticism.

“That’s a _very broad_ statement, Watanuki-san”, he grinned. The witch boy took it on the chin, and chuckled briefly.

“More precise predictions have more influence on the people who receive them... and come at a higher the price”, he said. “Why do you think horoscopes are so generic?”

“Because they have to apply to large numbers of people, so that each can identify with at least some of what’s being said”, Rei replied, certain of his answer, and bringing his hand up to his glasses to show his confidence. “Also, it’s mainly entertainment”, he thought to himself.

“Nah, it’s because they’re cheap”, Watanuki answered, prompting a laugh from Rei. “The price horoscope readers pay is a small glimpse into their hopes and fears for the day. The author can then sum these glimpses into a general mood and take it into account for his next predictions.” Rei was still scoffing, but Watanuki returned to a more serious expression. “There is always some form of exchange of information in a process like this, even if it is fleeting and tacit”, he continued. “I prefer to make my prices clear. Speaking of which, you still owe me a little something for that broad statement I made...”

“Huh?!”, Rei exclaimed, wondering what Watanuki was going to ask of him. Then he remembered. “Wait, Nagisa-kun wanted to know about ghosts in this building, what is he paying you?”

“He brought the drinks”, Watanuki winked. “You see, it’s not going to cost you a lot. I've done something for you, so I’d like you to tell me something I’d like to know.”

He walked over to the same ledge Rei had sat on, and placed his pipe there.

“You're a winner, Ryuugazaki-san”, Watanuki smirked, imitating Rei's glasses pose. “Tell me one of your secret pre-race rituals.” Rei was surprised. “Just something you always do, before every race, it doesn't have to be anything major”, Watanuki specified.

“What, you mean... A superstition of sorts?”, Rei asked. Watanuki shrugged as if to say “that'll do the trick”.

“Well, the guy you need to talk to is Nitori!”, Rei laughed. “He's the superstitious one! I don't have any irrational rituals!”

“Rituals before an event aren't necessarily fully conscious”, Watanuki pointed out, “it can be a habit. There must be something you do before every race. If you don't believe in luck, then perhaps it's something for your confidence...”

Rei thought for a solid minute, then pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had earbuds in another pocket, and he shuffled his thumb on the screen until he found what he wanted. He walked up to Watanuki while plugging the earphones in, then offered a bud to his guest.

He introduced the song: “it's in Italian... but I've looked up a translation, and I like this a lot on the night before a race. It speaks about people who cannot sleep until they solve someone's mystery identity. _Nessun dorma_ means 'none shall sleep' – I doubt anyone's losing sleep wondering about my strategies, but I like to think so.”

The song began, both listening attentively. Rei knew the words, and mouthed them. Watanuki observed.

_Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,_

_Il nome mio nessun saprà!_

As the singer reached the grandiose climax, Rei caught a vision of himself at the next race. Standing on the grid, wind rushing through his hair, he saw Watanuki standing directly ahead of him, next to his own car and crew. He sensed that both he and his rival had planned their tactics, and, although neither knew what the other had up his sleeve, both were confident they would win.

_All'alba vincerò!_

_Vincerò!_

_VINCERÒ_ _!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fic's finale is due this weekend. Stay tuned!


	4. Aftermath

**Wednesday 15 th November 2017**

 

“Damn it, our man did nothing there! Why don't you just wish to beat us and get over it?”

“Oh yeah, I own the shop so I can just help myself! That's not how it works, you fool!”

 

“ _Do you see now, why I can't just 'wish for a win'? The cost of knowing ahead is too high.”_

 

Rei gasped in the cold air on the roof of the Sukishima Rest House, waking from his visions, his earbud still in place. The music had finished, and the place was eerily silent. Only the rustle of the last leaves on the trees in the Autumn wind could be heard.

He looked around – Watanuki was gone. No pipe on the ledge, door closed. He scurried around, scratching his head. What was he doing there? Talking to Watanuki, but there was no clue that he had ever been up on the roof. He couldn't recall what they had talked about, mind. He was confused. Had the whole thing been some sort of dream or hallucination? Yet he was outside, so he had followed someone or something. Oh right, he had come up for some air after having dinner with Doumeki, Watanuki – wait a minute, he really was on the island –, and...

 

The clang of the metal door handle snapped him out of his daze. “Rei-chan!”

“Nagisa-kun!”, Rei replied to the call, seeing Nagisa, whose long blond hair and white coat appeared to shine in the moonlight, walk up to him.

“You've been up here for a while, I even had time to put on my coat and everything”, he observed, drawing attention to that fact that he'd been careful for a change. After that, he went into a more frantic speech. “Wata-chan came down five minutes ago, he said you wouldn't be far behind, but it's been at least five minutes! I started to worry, are you ok? Did you argue? Are you angry?”

Rei couldn't get a word in, but it didn't matter, since he didn't quite know what state he was in. He smiled softly and hugged Nagisa, unsure as to why he felt compelled to. But it did make Nagisa go quiet. Now both of them were confused, although Nagisa quickly accepted the embrace. He eventually recalled one other time Rei hugged him out of nowhere. He had just daydreamed about being in space with an android version of Nagisa, which sacrificed itself to get Rei back home. What on Earth had Watanuki done to get Rei in that state?

“Um, Rei-chan?”, Nagisa managed to finally whisper. “We should get back downstairs before the others worry.”

“Has it been that long?”

“I don't think so, but maybe you shouldn't start drinking just yet. Come on.”

The two walked down to the first floor where, Rei remembered, the four men had eaten rice earlier.

“They _are_ here”, Rei mumbled upon seeing Watanuki and Doumeki, both with cups of sake in their hands.

“Well... yeah”, Nagisa replied. Never mind the dead, he thought, something weird's happening to the living.

“I'll make him something warm to drink”, Watanuki decided, sensing Nagisa's suspicion. In reality though, he worked on creating a memory for Rei to bridge the gap and not worry about what he'd forgotten.

 

“Hadn't you anticipated the confusion?”, Doumeki asked later, after both Nagisa and Rei had fallen asleep, overcome by the alcohol more easily than the sorcerer and his assistant. “Sounds like you were a bit careless.”

“I didn't ask for your opinion, Doumeki”, Watanuki snapped back. “I don't normally do this sort of thing, I had to adjust. It doesn't help that Ryuugazaki is obsessed with having an answer to everything. But he'll adapt. He'll understand very soon that a little patience will bring him the information he desires. Mean time, I couldn't leave him in that state for this weekend's race.” Watanuki then concluded quietly: “not for my last one.”

“So you've made your decision”, Doumeki answered. Watanuki nodded.

“I enjoy the shop more, it's where I prefer to be. It was ok to come out, see the world a bit and do Sakura-chan a favour, but I've done everything I was asked to do with the team, and I should observe my captivity properly again.”

Watanuki paused before turning to Doumeki. “But you can continue driving if you want. I think your presence will be appreciated.”

“I'll see”, Doumeki replied, taking one last shot of whiskey. “I think we should rest now. Like you said, there's a big weekend coming up.”

 

Mid-morning, with Goro Sasabe's assistance, everyone left the island and headed for Tokyo. It wasn't the optimal route to Suzuka from Tottori, but everyone had some business to attend to before going to the circuit on Friday morning.

After staying the night at Rei's, Nagisa accompanied his friend to campus. He had the week off work to prepare for the 8 Hours, so he was in no hurry, but he'd be off to swim and do weight training with Momo while Rei attended his lectures. Walking to the subway, Nagisa reflected on the night they'd had on Sukishima.

“Wata-chan was amazing, huh?”, he said. “Detecting the spirits and everything...”

“You still believe something was there?”, Rei asked rhetorically. “I don't see any evidence he's capable of doing anything supernatural.”

“You say that, but he did spook you out, didn't he?”, Nagisa teased.

“ _Chigaimasu_...”

At that point, the pair walked by a traditional Japanese house with moon crescents ornamenting the roof and the top of the gate pillars. Although it was distinctive in amongst the modern, taller buildings, and neither would remember seeing it there before, they walked by without giving it any attention.

 

_**THE END** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was, very probably, my last fic. I hope it went down well!  
> AERS Radio out!
> 
>  **Update** : it wasn't my last. :S


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